Jailed: Margaret Bailey, a dinner lady who worked her way up to secretary has been jailed after she cooked the books - and pocketed up to £90,000 of school funds

A former dinner lady who stole up to £89,000 by cooking the books at the primary school where she worked for 10 years has been jailed.

Margaret Bailey, 51, deviously siphoned tens of thousands from school accounts over a six year period in order to fund a global property empire.

She then used the cash, which had been set aside for school trips, meals and Christmas parties, to put deposits on houses in the U.S. and Bulgaria, as well as several UK properties.

The mother, who was described as the 'life and soul' of Endon Hall Primary School in Endon, Staffordshire, started stealing cash in 2005 after she was promoted from dinner lady to office support manager, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.

Bailey was jailed for two-and-a-half years after she pleaded guilty to four charges of theft, two of fraud and one of false accounting on Monday.

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The court heard Bailey, from Brown Edge, Staffordshire, stole between £63,000 and £89,000 - although audits have been unable to determine the exact figure.

Fiona Cortese, prosecuting, said: 'She said that everything was true and she was glad that it was all out in the open as it had been making her ill.

'She said she had bills to pay at home and it had just snowballed.'

In an open letter to the court, Bailey said her crimes had caused her to 'lose everything.'

Endon Hall Primary School, where Bailey siphoned money from school accounts to finance a worldwide property portfolio. She used the cash to put deposits on houses in the U.S. and Bulgaria, as well as several UK properties

She wrote: 'I have lost everything I love.

'I have not spoken to my children in months.

'I don’t ask the court or my family to forgive me because I do not forgive myself.

'I will live with the pain and terrible feeling of loss until the day I die.'

Jason Holt, defending, said Bailey had become estranged from her family as a result of her actions.

He said: 'Her children don’t want to know her. She’s lost her husband.

'They are separated and planning to divorce.

'She is left at 51 with no-one and has only herself to blame.'

Headteacher Vicki Lewis condemned Bailey.

She said: 'Margaret was well-liked and respected by everyone at Endon Hall.

'The whole school has been absolutely shattered by this betrayal of trust.

'During the 10 years that she worked here, Margaret was known as the ‘life and soul’ of the school, often giving up her own time to support fund-raising events and never taking a day off work.

'We now know she was systematically stealing sums of money, and meticulously covering her tracks, by switching money around so the accounts always appeared in order. '

'Margaret not only abused her position of trust as an employee, but has also ruthlessly deprived pupils of the money raised by hard-working parents.'

Bailey was nominated as an ‘Adult School Star’ in local community awards in 2009, at the height of her scam.